Fire-escape.



M. FREED. FIRE ESCAPE. APPLICATION FILED HAY31, 1912. Y 1,087,440. Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

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WIINESSES IHVENTOR manna M. PREED.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 1912.' 1 ,O87,44;O, Patepted Feb. 17, 1914 1 a sums-sum 2.

INVENTOR WITNESSES M {1M 8y Arm/Mr APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 19 12,

M. PREE I FIRE ESGAPB.

Patented Feb. 17;"1914.

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ME-NDEL FREED, or MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb.17, rare.

Application filed May 31, 1912. Serial No. 700,883."

Tofalt 'lLll am it may concern Be it known that I, MENDEL Fnnnn, a citizenof the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin, State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a-specification.

This inventionrelates to fire escapes, more particularly fire escapes which are portable or detachable and which may'be set up whenever desired as in case of tire.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a portable device of the above character which may be set up very quickly and by which a great number of people can escape while following each other in rapid succession.

A further object is to provide means whereby a safe escape is assured to every one using the apparatus and even to'a person who may lose his wits or faint through the excitement attending afire.

Infir escape apparatus of the stationary type used hitherto, it has been found that very often the fire will be nearest the very windows which open into the exterior iron staircase constituting the fire escape. In that event escape is entirely cut off. Again the intense heat will often make the iron steps and railings so hot that it is impossible for a person to touch them Without On the other hand in bot-table devices as hitherto used, no practical arrangement has been produced whereby a considerable number of people may escape. through one device leading from one window or other form of exit.

Hy invention contemplates the use of a rope or other flexible or collapsible member, preferably an asbestos rope, which may, in rasc of fire. be fastened adjacent to, a window or other exit, and the other end of which rope is fastened to some point in the street below. Should no one happen to be in the street below at the time, means are provided whereby one person may descend upon the rope and fasten the same at a point as far as possible from the building, as across the street. The rope so fastened will thus be at an angle to the building and constitutea sort. of slide or runwayitpon which the persons within the building can slide down in rapid succession using the novel means provided for this purpose. This latter means consists broadly of a rope engaging means which may very quickly be'snapped into and out of engagement with the rope and iv means whereby a person may .be securely held to said rope engaging means. This holding means consists preferably of a pair of. cufi's which are slipped upon the Wrists of a person and fastened to a bar engaging ,the hook which snaps on to the rope. Northe person so descending nears thebottom I end of the rope, his descentis gradually checked and finally stopped when he is just about in a position to touch the ground with his feet, whereupon the hook is quickly snapped off the rope and the person steps aside to make room for the next person. immediately following.

Each person in the building should be provided with a rope engaging apparatus which may be quickly snapped on to the rope preferably of the type above described. Every floor is also provided with one or more ropes which in case of fire may be fastened to the, building and'then thrown out and fastened at some point in the street as above described. Then the persons within snap themselves on to the rope and slidedown, following each other as rapidly as the persons reaching the ground can free them selves from the rope. This latter need not take more than several seconds. It will thus be seen thata great number of people can.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1;

is an elevation illustrating one form of apparatus whereby the first person descendsto subsequently fasten the rope to the pave-.

ment. Fi 2 is-an elevat-ion illustrating the 15 illustrating one of the cuffs used to slip over hil had

apparatus and method whereby the succeeding persons escape. Figs. 3 and l-are re spectively a front and side view out one form of regulating device for regulating the spegd the wrists of persons using the baiand hook as illustrated in Fig. 7. Figs. 11 and 12 are respectively a front and side view of the tastening means which is driven into the ground and to which the lower end of the rope is fastened. Fi 13 is a plan of the reel'irom which the rope is unwound. Fig.

, 14 is a section taken on lines l t-14 of Fig.

13. Fig. 15 illustrates a modified form of -reel.

Referring to Fig. 1 illustrating one form of apparatus which maybe used by the first person in descending, the seat 1 upon which the person sits as shown is secured to a regulating device 2 engaging the asbestos rope 1 and said regulating device is snapped or otherwise attached to a clamp 3 also engaging the rope. The rope is shown as snapped on to an eye bolt 1 which may be secured at' anyconv'enient point adjacent to the window or other exit through which the escape to be made. The regulating device is adjusted to regulate the speed of descent and .the clamp may be operated at any time to stop the descent of the operator at any point as when desiring to adjust the regulating device to permit a more orle'ss rapid descent. i

One form t regulator which may be used is illustrated in detailiin Figs'3 and i and consists of a frame composed of two parts 4: and 5 hinged together as at 6 and snapping together as by engagcmentof a leaf spring 7 with a pin 8. Mounted in these portions of the frame are a pair of rollers 9 and 10 which are adapted to engage the rope and hingedframe is opened and snapped on to the rope. The degree of pressure exerted by clamp the same therebetween when the the rollers upon the rope may be regulated by some form of adjusting device as by a pair of set screws 10* engaging the pintles 11 of roller 9 which is yieldingly held away from its companion roller by springs 12. if dasir. one or both of the pintles 11 may befprovided'with a. pointer 13 and a graduaterl scale which may be arranged so as to give". the proper degree of achuetrnent neo w. tor'a pre ent e reanesl t Ti e oazaao seat 1 and is also provided with an eye bolt 15 adapted to engage the clamp 3. The latter is illustrated in detail in Figs. 5 and (3 and consists of a brake adapted to trictionally engage the rope and may be tightly clamped thereto so as to grip the same and entirely stop the descent of the person in the seat. I have illustrated this clamp or brake as a tubular member 16 which is split longitudinally and adapted to be slipped on through its longitudinal opening clamped to the rope by some suitable clamp-- ing device as a setscrew 17 mounted in a frame 18 secured to the tubular body. A handle 19 may be provided for operation by the operator and some form of fastening device as a snap hook 20 may be connected to the clamp for engaging the eye bolt 15 of the regulating device 2. It will thus be seer that the person descending the rope can properly regulate the rapidity of his descent and may entirely stop himself at any point for the purpose of adjusting the regulator or for entering another. window as the case may be.

Any desired means may be used for throwing out the'ropeQ In Figs/13 and 14 I have illustrated a form of reel upon which the rope may be wound in double leaving the and hit

two ends exposed and the middle attached to a. fastening device such as a hook 22 attached to the spindle 23 of the reel. The reel is mounted in a frame 24 having cross pieces 25 to which ard attached rubber pads 26. One of the ends of the rope is snapped on to the eye bolt or fastening device adjacent to the window and the reel is then thrown out bodily through the window. During its descent the rope will unwind and after which the empty reel will fall to the ground. The impact of this fall will be deadened by the yieldable pads26 and thus prevent the smashing of the reel. After the rope is so unwound, the loose end may be thrown out from-thewindow and all is in readiness for the first person to make the de scent.

in Fig. 1.5 Ihave shown a modified form of reel which may be fastened to the exterior of the building avoiding the necessity of throwing out the reel bodily. In this form both ends of the rope are free, one of which ends is fastened to the fastening d evice adjacent the window and the other end to the plate 27 hereinaifterdescribed. The

plate 2'? is thrown out otthefwindow toigosv, 4.40

thereto, and the reel thereupon unwinds. However, with the construction of ree shown an F igs. .13 and 14 and the method 0 operating the same, assurance always had that the end of the rope thrown out will always fall on top and there will be no tangli'ng. After the first person descends, he immediately attaches to the pavement as far as possible from the building. the con nection illustrated in Figs. 11 and 1:2. This 1 may consist of a plate having attached thereto blades 28 which imay be hammered into the pavement and: a ,ring 29 to which the end of the rope may be fastened. This attaching device may be held at the proper window together with the reel and'thrown out. when the alarmis sounded. It may be uiiderstood that any form of fastening device may beused for attaching the rope so to form an incline such as illustratetbin Fig. 2 nd down which the persons withim the building may descend in safety.' If some convenient fastening means may be found as across the street and to which the rope "may be fastened, it will be unnecessary to use the device I have here described and, illustrated in Figs. 11. and 12 and it' a person happens to be in the street below in time to attach the-end of the rope. it will be unnecessary for the first person in the building to descend in the manner above described.

I will now refer to Figs. 2. T, 8, 9 and 10 illustrating my improved construction whereby a great many people can escape on a single rope in rapid succession to each other with perfect safety although they may not be in full possession of their senses. To this end, each person in the building provided with a form of apparatus such as illustrated in Fig. 7. This consists of a book 30 which may be readily snapped on to the rope, which latter will-then be engaged with a roller 31 mounted in the hook and another roller 32 which may be adjustably mounted so as to secure the ropebetween itself and roller 31 .and produce a retarding effect when the hook moves relatively to the rope. Attached to this hook 30 is a bar 33 which may be grasped by the hands of the operator and to which is strapped a device which is adapted to hold the person descending even though he may relax his hold on the bar. This device consists prpferably of a pair of cuffs 34 which ma v be thrust over the Wrists of a person. To these cuifs'are ecomiectec'l a pair of straps 35, which engage the bar 33 as at points 36 and are sufficiently strong to support the descending person when he relaxes his grasp from the bar. 'lhesestr'aps 35 are so arranged that when the weight of each person is thrown upon the cuii's,,they will automatically tighten the cuffs, thus firmly holding the cuifs about the wrists of the operator and prevent his becoming disengaged 1 l from the safety device. This tightening arrangement may be formed by attaching to the cuffs, straps 36 having at their ends rings 37 through which the-strap 35 may be looped. When the weight is applied to the cuff and transmitted to the strap 35, its loop portion 38 will contract and draw the ends of the straps 36 toward each other and thus tighten the cuff aboutthe wrist. of the \VQHI'LI'.

The means for applying pressure to the roller 32 so as to clamp the rope to the' roller -31 and thus produce the necessary retarding effect, may consist of a lever 10 pivoted at 41 to the hook 30 and on one end of which the roller is mounted, The other end of this lever may be connected by achain 42 to the bar 33. By shifting his hand slightly 7 upon the grasp piece, the person descending may cause more or less of his weight to bear upon the side of the bar to which this braking device is connected, and thus increase or decrease theretarding effect. The hook 30, may very readily be snapped on to the rope by a late 'al movement whicn will force inward a snap member 30 after which the rope will be positioned together with the rollers as illustrated in Figs. Tends. When the alarm is sounded, each person with the exception of the one who is to de scend in the manner illustrated in Fig. '1, will equip himself with the apparatus illus trated in Fig. 7 and as soon as the rope is fastened in the street below as illustrated in Fig. 2, each one may successively snap himself on to therope and slide down until the portion 43 of the rope is reached. This portion of th rope may consist of an enlarged and rough or corrugated surface which will retard the descent of each person and this descent will be finally andpositively stopped by means of a button 441- which willengage the hook and prevent any further movement down the rope.- This button may be at a proper distance from the ground so that persons reaching that point will be in an upright position and touching the ground with their feet. As soon as a person reaches this point, he may disengage the book from the rope by pulling upon the snap member 50 and moving the hook laterally off from -the rope. Ifthe person does not. have sufli cient presence of mind to do this, some other person standing near by, as the one who descended in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1, may disengage him and push him aside so as to leave room for the next person coming down. It is seen, therefore that with my construction and arrangement, a largenumber of persons may escape .on a single rope and follow eachother in rapid succession or as quickly as the persons reach-- ing the bottom can be disengaged and pushed aside. Moreover, should any one in the interior faint or otherwise lose his a; I 1,087,4tt0.

senses, the safety device may be attached to his wrists and he may be snapped on to the rope and sent down with complete safety; thus assurance is bad that all persons may be saved irrespective of Whether they are in a condition to use the apparatus by themselves or not.

It will be understood that/by using a plurality of ropes at convenient positions on the various floors, of a building and by providing each person in the building with a device by which he may descend upon one of these ropes, it is assured that every one will escape in a very short period oi": time. Means may be provided at various points adjacent to the exterior of the exits to which the "ope can be attached, and thus the safest ponrt may be chosen at which to make the descent. Thus if the fire is localized at one section of a floor, the people may all escape at the exit farthest from this section. By the use of an asbestos rope, it is assured that it will not be burned or severed by flames as has been the case where ropes have been attempted to be used during fires.

It may be understood that various changes may be made without departing from the.

spirit and scope of this invention as defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a portable fire escape, a flexible member extending at an angle to the building from a point of exit to the street below, andmeans adaptedto be grasped by a person escaping and snapped on to said mem her, said means embodying a hook a hand grip attached to said hook and Wrist engagiiig means attached to said first mentioned means through which the hands of the person may be freely inserted to grasp the hand grip, said wrist engaging means coming into operation when the person is no longer able to grasp the hand grip.

2. In a portable fire escape, a flexible member extending at an angle to the builting from a point of exit to the street below, and means adapted to be grasped by a person escaping and quickly snapped on to said "member, said means embodying a hand gripand a member engaging the wrist of aperson and into which the hand of the person can be freely inserted and which automatically tightens when said person relaxes his grip and means for protecting the Wr st from the action of the automatically tigiening member.

8. In a" portable fire escape, an inclined .runway, and'means adapted to be grasped by. the escaping person and snapped on to said. runway, said means embodying a hook, a bar attached thereto, "Wrist engaging 'means attached to the bar, and speed regulating means for controlling the speed of descent.

4:. In a portable fire escape, an inclined runway, means adapted to be placed abr the wrists of the escaping person snapped on to said runway and embodyi. retarding means controlled by the w ht of the person exerting a variable fr. upon the runway, and means on said runway adjacent the bottom thereof for in-- creasing the friction exert-ed thereon by the retarding means so as to produce a greater retardation previous to the final stopping; of the descent of the person.

In a portable fire escape, an inclincd runway, means adapted to be placed about the wrists of the escaping person and snapped on to said runway embodying retarding means controlled by the weight of the person, and an enlarged friction metre ber disposed on the bottom of the runway and engaging said retarding means to increase the retardation exerted tl'iereby 0115 to the final stopping oi: the des the person.

6. in a portable fire escape, an inclined runway, means adapted to be placed about the Wrists of the escaping person. 1

and snapped on to said runway embodying re tarding means controlled by the weight oi' the person, and an enlarged :trietion member disposed on the bottom of the runwa and engaging said retarding means to increase the retardation exerted thereby prei one to the final stopping of the dc cent of the person, and a stop below said friction member. I

7. In a fire escape, an inclined runway, means carried by the person, escaping and adapted to be snapped on to said. runway," said means comprising a bar aijlapted to be grasped by the person and means attached tilt? to, the Wrist of said person and connected to relaxes his grip.

8. lln a fire escape, an inclined rur means carried by the person escapingg a adapted to engage said runway, a pair cults adapted to be placed about the on. of the person, and fastening means for attaching the cults to said first i'nentitmed means, said fastening means compr straps acting to tighten said culls upon the wrists of the wearer when the weightof the person is borne by the same.

S). in a fire escape, an inclined runway, a hook adapted to snap over said runway, friction device on said hook, adapted to be grasped by the person escaping a bar at tached-to the hook and a pair iii safety culls attached to bar adapted to pass over the wrists of the person and automaticallytightened tii reupen when the bar is re lease i In a fire escape, a runway, a member adapted to be' snapoed i pin 4 runway, expansible pitta attachtai to said friction member'and adapted to be quickly adapted to be grasped and quickly snapped onto said runway, said means comprising an element frictionally engaging the runway, hand grlps fastened to sald element,

, and automatically adjustable 'cuffs attached to said hand grips.

12. 111 a fire escape, a runway, means adapted to be grasped and quickly snapped onto said runway, said means comprising a frame, a pair of friction rollers mounted thereon, one of the rollers being mounted on a fixed'axis and the other on a movable axis to render the distance between said rollers variable, hand grips attached to said frame, and means connecting the movable roller and the hand grips whereby said movable roller is actuated by the Weight of the person toward the other roller to grip the runway to retard the descent of the person.

his I MENDEL X FREED.

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